Names To Erase

Chapter 1- Last Lights

August,2083
Toronto, Canada

The door behind Dr. Morgan opened and he stood up from his chair to see if the person about to enter the room was the very person who he was waiting for or not.The long wait of two hours had made him stressed and haggard.

He had been regularly coming to the hospital with his daughter for last eight months, twice a month, to get her eyes checked, but he never had to wait this long. It usually took half an hour at most. But that day was different and deep inside him he knew it too.

Dr. Yash appeared from behind the door with a despondent look on his face. He was a young tall man, perhaps ten years younger than Dr. Morgan. He stood there for a moment and looked at Dr. Morgan. Very unwillingly, he started to walk inside the room.

"You better sit down for this,sir" he said in a low voice. He sat in the chair next to Dr. Morgan.

Dr. Morgan was still standing with his eyes fixed on the file in Dr. Yash's hands. "Sir!",said Dr. Yash waving his hand in the direction of the chair,"Please". To that Dr. Morgan nodded slowly and sat. "So, the reports are here,sir...and..."Dr. Yash took a pause.
"And..? " asked Dr. Morgan leaning forward.

Yash took a deep breath and exhaled before speaking.
" And her damage rate is still the same. In fact we might even see some increase in the damage rates. According to her current condition we are not sure. I'm sorry, sir" said yash and handed the reports to Dr. Morgan, who took his time before opening it.

This sent a quiver of pain in his chest. He looked up from the file fighting back his tears.
"How much time does she have yash" he asked in a trembling voice, looking out of the window, where her daughter Crystal was playing with their pet dog in the front garden.

Yash shook his head "Not more than three months if the damage rate stayed stable, could be less if the condition gets worse. For the time being, we have changed her lenses and increased the concentration of her medication" Yash said who was now also looking out of the window.

"She's only nine, Yash!" A tear fell on the file in Dr. Morgan's lap.

Yash placed his hand on his companion's shoulder who's eyes were very distant now.
"Mr. Morgan I don't know if this is my place to say this or not but please be strong in front of her because if she would see you, who is her 'role model' her 'strength' and what matters the most her 'father',breaking, she would not be able to keep herself strong. She would break too. " But Dr. Morgan didn't show any signs of listening. His eyes were still distant.

At that moment Yash's phone rang. He took it out to see who it was. It was from his senior, Dr. Anmol. "Excuse me, Mr. Morgan" He stood up and walked out of the room.

But the man in the chair stayed stagnant like a smooth and heavy river stone, with no sign of life in him except the constant flow of tears in his eyes. It was a long while before the tears stopped and after that it was a long while before he stood up and left the room.

****************

It was one of those perfect days so common in stories and so rare in the real world. The weather was warm and dry. That day after getting all her check-ups done. Crystal was outside. In the garden of the hospital her father usually took her to get her eyes checked after every fifteen days.

That day she brought their pet dog 'Rock' with them because she didn't like sitting still in the garden everytime they came before. To her luck that day her took a lot of time to get out of the hospital,with her medication for next fifteen days.

So, she enjoyed playing with Rock. He was a German Shepard. She also brought a Frisbee that day to play the fetching game.They played for a long stretch of an hour and half but then she got tired. So she decided to sit still on the bench with Rock, who didn't show any signs of fatigue at all.

She was a very active kid. She liked moving around. She was rather tall for her age.

" I wonder what is taking him so long today." she said to Rock, who gave no replies. She nodded as if Rock said something to her. " Yes! He might be getting his eyes checked too. You are smart Rock."

Turning to the other side she finally saw her father coming out of the hospital in his car. "Look Rock he is finally out, do you wanna race?... No!.. okay! Let's just walk then."

She started to walk towards the edge of the garden where her father was waiting for her in his car. Getting inside she asked "what took you so long today?"

Her father smiled at her " they wanted to get a check up of my eyes. I said I didn't want one but they didn't listen to me."

Crystal laughed with surprise in her eyes. " Really! Rock was thinking that too." she looked back at Rock, who was in the back seat. Looking out of the window. And her father drove them to the home.

Two months later all she could see was an ever moving fluid with a blurry mixture of a lots of colours in it, which were not so fascinating any more.

Hi! There again.

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Next chapter is coming on next Wednesday.